1.2 Mississippi State University_Development of Bighead Catfish (Clarias macrophalus) Culture for Sustainable aquaculture in Cambodia_Semi-Annual project report_October 2020 to September 2020

Abstract

The Goal of Development of Bighead Catfish (Clarias macrocephalus) Culture for Sustainable Aquaculture in Cambodia project is to develop and apply new applied aquaculture research technologies, in order to support bighead catfish (BC) culture in Cambodia. There are two main research objectives of which contribute into the project as the following: 1. To develop and scale cost-effective feeds for sustainable culture of BC in Cambodia: The project is in the progress to achieve this objective. The project has just started with some activities including the coordination meetings with key important partners such as World Fish, Kansas State University, Texas A&M University and the Faculty of Fisheries of RUA to discuss activity and research plan for the installation of wet-lab in RUA. The team has reached some achievements such as selecting the location, developing and finalizing the blueprint of the wet-lab, finalizing the list of materials and finishing mapping the suppliers of those materials. The project team expect to start the process of purchasing all those materials then install the wet-lab in the following quarters. 2. To strengthen the infrastructural and human aquaculture research capacities of local institutions: The project conducted two trainings on (1) Formulating and Preparing Aqua Feeds and (2) Managing a Research Facility to build the capacity of local institutions. The project delayed conducting the training of the RUA personnel on the operation of a wet lab in Malaysia, because of travel restrictions. Another hands on training will be provided to RUA personnel or other key relevant partners after the completion of the wet-lab installation in the next following quarters.